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Mekong Memo Thailand Weekly: Business, politics, finance, trade & legal news.

Jul 31, 2026

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Anutin Pauses the Land Bridge

Deputy PM Ekniti Nitithanprapas stood before cameras Friday and declared the $30 billion Land Bridge finished. He said that an investigatory panel found that its return on investment had slipped to under 5 percent from a projected 8 percent, that cargo forecasts were down as much as 16 percent, and that nine of the world's ten biggest shipping lines were locked into rival routes elsewhere. BUT! The next day, PM Anutin Charnvirakul was in front of different cameras saying it was not scrapped at all, only paused until "geopolitical conditions" improve. He also mentioned that he had not spoken to Ekniti before contradicting him. Both men agree that Ranong Port gets a closer look for upgrades, and that the so-called "Missing Link" rail line connecting the Andaman coast to the national network needs to have more attention paid to it.

Read more: Wionews (environmental risk), Bangkok Tribune (review panel)

El Niño Forecast Causes 14-Agency Emergency

The Office of the National Water Resources pulled 14 state agencies into an emergency session, from the Meteorological Department to EGAT, to prepare for an El Nino that forecasters say could turn "very strong" between October and December and that is likely to outlast the one that emptied reservoirs in 2015. National rainfall is already 10 percent below average, and the dry spell is expected to continue into the middle of next year. The four main Chao Phraya basin dams are expected to hold 12,105 million cubic meters of usable water by November 1. That’s significantly down from 17,245 million a year earlier but still nearly three times the 4,247 million during the worst of the 2015 crisis. Deputy secretary-general Paitoon Kengkarnchang told farmers outside formal irrigation zones not to get comfortable and to adjust planting schedules now.

Nong Khai Rail Leg Tenders in December

Eight civil-works contracts for the Nakhon Ratchasima to Nong Khai high-speed rail leg go out to bid in December, for 357 kilometers of track, five stations, and a 341.35 billion baht bill. Construction is expected to run from 2027 to 2031, extending the Bangkok-to-Nong Khai line that ties into Laos and China. Phase one to Nakhon Ratchasima is more than half finished, but two of fourteen contracts are still stuck in procurement and the Bangkok opening is now expected for 2030.

PM to Raise Kok Pollution with Min Aung Hlaing

The Prime Minister says he’ll raise the issue of toxic contamination in the Kok River with Myanmar's Senior General Min Aung Hlaing during his August 3-4 visit to Thailand, a short three weeks after passing over the topic during his trip to Beijing. China has been accused of driving the pollution by way of upstream mining, but Anutin told reporters that "matters concerning neighboring countries must first be resolved through direct dialogue among them." Environmental issues did come up in Beijing, he said, but they were about the green economy and clean energy, not the river that runs into Chiang Rai. Campaigners from the People's Network to Protect the Kok, Sai, Ruak, and Mekong Rivers also plan to petition Min Aung Hlaing directly at Myanmar's Consulate-General in Chiang Mai.

Milk Powder Standoff Curdles Before Canberra Trip

Australia and New Zealand want Thailand's two-stage skimmed milk powder approval process resolved before PM Anutin's early August visits to both countries. They say that the system is in breach of free trade agreement terms even though Bangkok has approved every volume requested by exporters. The Milk Board isn’t budging on the mechanism, but it has split applicants in two. Group 2, mostly small ice-cream and dessert makers whose production lines can’t use raw milk directly, got their quotas released on the grounds that they didn’t cause a domestic surplus. Group 1, the large operators that use raw-milk purchases as a condition for import quotas, are on hold until a working group settles how much of the surplus they will take up.

Siam Silica Chip Plan Needs 2,985 Hires by 2030

An ambitious new Siam Silica Framework sets 2030 targets of eight IC design firms, one fab, and two advanced packaging plants. No fab operator has been named, and NXPO's math shows the staffing gap is 152 academic faculty, 950 researchers and senior engineers, 553 high-skilled engineers, and 1,330 specialized technicians. No construction timeline was shared.

SEC Identifies Two Ex-Directors in Bitkub Hack Complaint

The SEC has told the Economic Crime Suppression Division who allegedly cooked Bitkub's books: former directors Sakolkorn Sakavee and Thaweesap Rawan. The complaint is about Form DA 1 daily net capital reports filed from May 10 to October 30, 2021. The reports kept showing customer assets unmolested despite a May cyberattack that affected 16 types of digital assets worth more than $50 million. Bitkub says its co-founders bought replacement coins in the same amounts and currencies to keep clients whole, then stayed quite to avoid a run. Police will decide whether to hand the case to prosecutors.

Bangkok Padlocks 60 Bars After Chatuchak Fire

Sixty Bangkok entertainment venues were shut for operating without valid licenses and 19 more lost permission to host live music after inspectors swept through 865 of the 1,204 venues the city flagged for review after a recent Chatuchak-area fire killed 36 people and injured 70. Inspectors are working through a list put together after Thailand's deadliest blaze in more than a decade tore through a beer hall and live music venue. There’s no published date for when the remaining inspections will be finished. The 19 venues stripped of live music permission are still allowed to operate as bars.

Gulf Crisis Grounds Southern Europe's Thai Trips

Spanish arrivals dropped 15.1 percent through mid-July, Italian arrivals declined 10.5 percent, and Portuguese arrivals slid 7.75 percent, the Tourism Authority of Thailand's Rome office reports. The reason is that almost all Portuguese tourists, four-fifths of Spanish tourists, and three-fifths of Italians get to Thailand by way of Middle Eastern carriers, and the Gulf crisis has grounded much of that capacity just as southern Europe was riding a 22 percent arrivals boom. ITA Airways, which flies Rome-Bangkok direct, re-routed its aircraft to the Americas and cut May and June services, although it plans five flights a week in August. Gulf carriers have started bringing routes back online, but bookings remain cautious and travelers are demanding flexible cancellation terms.

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